


Of Coffee and Courtships

by GeekPrincess



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Awkward Flirting, Fluff, M/M, deancas-sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 09:17:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9649448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeekPrincess/pseuds/GeekPrincess
Summary: This is the story of Dean and Castiel and falling in love; one coffee at a time. "Hey, Sweetheart" 2017 entry.





	

**Author's Note:**

> First writing challenge and only second SPN fic. Thanks to the lovely [Kit](http://archiveofourown.org/users/oceanbluecas) for beta.

**Of Coffee and Courtships**

  
  


It starts innocently enough to hardly elicit notice.

 

Cas watches bemusedly as his customer winks with a cavalier “thanks, gorgeous” and moves down the counter to wait for his coffee. Beside him Hannah scoffs. He places the change from the man's purchase into the tip jar and glances at his coworker. “What’s the matter?”

 

Hannah gives him a disapproving look. “You shouldn't encourage him. That man is an incorrigible flirt.”

 

Cas shrugs, resisting the urge to turn and watch said, rather attractive, customer. “It's harmless.”

 

Hannah sniffs with disdain and moves to refill the bean hopper.

 

Three days later, Cas looks up to green eyes and a devilish smile. 

 

“Hey there, handsome.”

 

“Hello, what would you like today?” Cas replies coolly, though he knows he is smiling in return, damn him.

 

“Large red eye, two sugars....sugar.”

 

Cas snorts and enters the order into the register. “That will be $3.15.”

 

The man hands him a five and walks away. Cas again adds the change to the tip jar and refuses to watch the man wait for his coffee down the counter.

 

It becomes a routine. Every Monday and Friday morning the blond, green eyed man with a chiseled chin and flirtatious smile shows up in Cas's line at the cafe. He greets Cas with some ridiculous sentimental nickname and orders the same drink. Every time he pays with a five dollar bill and leaves without his change.

 

Sometimes, Hannah is nearby and she huffs and scowls. Sometimes Gabriel, his brother and owner of the cafe, overhears and teases Cas the rest of the day with whatever moniker he was graced with that morning. It changes every time. Sunshine. Doll face. Angel. Cas never responds, but some days he can feel those eyes on him as he continues taking orders, and he feels hot all over.

 

Honey. Sugar plum. Puddin'. Toots. Darlin'. Pumpkin.

 

Then one day under the five dollar bill is a scrap of paper. Cas reads it in confusion for a moment.

 

_ Dean. Call me. 555-7983 _

 

Cas pockets the note, adds the change to the tip jar, and smiles warmly at the next customer.

 

He doesn't just see Dean on Monday and Friday mornings after that. But no one knows. It’s their secret. It makes Cas's skin tingle when Dean winks or smiles at him the cafe, each playing their parts. No one suspects the sighs, the kisses, the slide of body against body that happened the night before—or just before Cas's shift. He never breaks script, never gives more than his neutral I-can-be-pleasant smile. Dean insists that's the appeal of the silly names. He wants to see Cas “break character”.

 

Cas exalts in their nights together. Dean pulls emotions from him like sweet juices from swollen fruit. He's never had a lover who felt so right, so natural. Part of him wants to gush to anyone who will listen about how happy being with Dean makes him, but he doesn't. One, he's never been overly loquacious, and two, this is new and private and wonderful, and he doesn't want it spoiled by well meaning friends or overly protective brothers.

 

Their little routine gets shaken up when Gabriel hires Inais. He's youthful, gangly, and earnest. Of course everyone in the cafe immediately takes a liking to him, but, bless his heart—he turns out to be an incredible klutz. Soon Gabriel is forced to move him to the register for the safety of all. This means Cas is now stationed at the espresso machine most mornings. He hates it solely for the fact it's hard to hear conversation over the burr of the grinders, the hiss of the steam handle, and the gurgle of dispensing espresso. It means no endearments from Dean on Mondays and Fridays. And despite the fact they are spending more and more evenings together, it still puts him in a sour mood.

 

Gabriel notices; he's a good brother, even if Cas finds his brand of affection irritating at best. He asks Cas what is wrong, offers him time off, and ultimately pouts pathetically when Cas refuses to comment on what is bothering him. He just isn't ready to share Dean with anyone yet, not even with his brother. He knows Dean feels the same about talking to his own brother—they talked about it over dinner at Cas's apartment this past weekend. Cas's scowl softens as he remembers the anxious set to dean's brow as the topic came up. Dean's concern that Cas would misinterpret his reticence was more endearing than it probably should've been.

 

After two weeks (just four mornings ruined) Cas decides he can play too. Friday morning when Cas gets Dean's cup, he scribbles a quick “Morning, Dean” on the side before adding the single shot of espresso and handing it back to Hannah to fill with coffee. Hannah notices the note and shoots Cas a quizzical look. Cas just smiles softly to himself and stays quiet. Later that morning he sees a text from Dean on his phone, a simple smiley face emoticon. Dean hates emoticons. He once ranted at length about it on one of their first dates, so the usage doesn't escape Cas's notice as something potentially important. He doesn't reply, just puts his phone back in his locker and goes back to work.

 

Scribbled notes on coffee cups become their new routine. Cas always writes the same “Morning, Dean”. Now each day he adds a small doodle, too. One day it is a smiley face, another it's a bumble bee, followed that next Monday by a hastily scrawled rendition of the Evenstar from  _ Lord of the Rings, _ which Cas can see makes Dean's eyes light up, the man turning on his way out of the cafe to grin dopily at Cas. Hannah puts a hand on Cas's elbow but he just shakes his head and bites his lip to control his own smile. She sighs and shakes her head, though her face is more fond than concerned these days.

 

So, he's pretty sure Hannah has them figured out, but bless her, she keeps the knowledge to herself. Cas decides this suits him as just fine. He knows they’re coming to that point, that unspoken juncture in which their worlds will either know the truth or they will fizzle and fade. Dean has asked him to hang out with his best friend Charlie and watch  _ Star Wars _ this weekend. Cas knows this is an important moment—a monumental moment—so on Friday's cup he draws an X-Wing under his salutation.

 

His text that morning from Dean reads, _You said you've never seen_ _Star Wars_.

 

Cas replies,  _ I haven't, I looked it up _ .

 

He gets a beaming smiley and a throbbing heart in reply. Cas feels as if he's floating the rest of the day.

 

One rainy Monday, twenty-two weeks after it started, everything changes. Inais calls out. Cas refuses to work anything but the register, causing Gabriel to wander the cafe with a confused frown most of the morning. Hannah keeps giving him furtive little smiles between orders, her eyes warm and happy. Cas takes a moment to grip her wrist, giving it an affectionate squeeze.

 

When Dean comes in, Cas can't help himself. He greets his lover with a bright smile and a warm, “Good Morning, Dean.”

 

Dean's answering smile makes Cas's fingers tingle. “Morning, sweetheart. Missed you.”

 

Dean leans across the counter and Cas falls into him like a heavenly body pulled into the gravitational pull of the sun. They meet in the middle, just one quick kiss. Somewhere in the cafe Gabriel is squawking with surprise while Hannah sighs dreamily behind him.

 

Cas settles back on his side of the counter. “I like that one.”

 

Dean smirks. “You like sweetheart?”

 

“I do.”

 

“Okay, it’s the keeper then.”


End file.
